Avocado is often a choice for baby foods thanks to its creamy and easy-to-process pulp. The fruit is rich in vitamins, minerals, and contains a healthy amount of fats that are vital for a growing infant. So can an avocado be the first food for a baby who just started eating solids? What is the best way to prepare an avocado baby recipe? MomJunction covers every aspect of avocado for a baby and suggests the best avocado baby food recipes for your little one.

When Can Babies Have Avocado?

Avocado can be the first food for your baby, which means you can feed an infant avocado at the age of six months (1). While the creamy texture comes from fat, it is a “good” fat, and is vital for the baby’s growth. Avocados are also packed with several other vital nutrients for the infant.

Health Benefits Of Avocado For Babies

Your baby reaps the following health benefits when he eats avocado:

Keeps the nervous system healthy: Avocado contains more folic acid (also called folate or vitamin B9) than many other fruits. Folic acid is essential for the healthy development of the nervous system, including cognitive abilities of the brain. Regular consumption of avocado can act as a nervous system tonic for your little one (2).

Provides good fat for growth: The fat found in avocados consists of monounsaturated fatty acids, which help the body grow and stay healthy. It means you can feed your baby an avocado every day without worrying about him becoming overweight (3).

Good for gross motor skills: An avocado has more potassium than a banana (4). A healthy intake of potassium is essential for proper functioning of the skeletal muscles (5). The health of the skeletal muscles, in turn, determines the progress of the gross motor skills.

Boosts immunity: Avocados contain several micronutrients and vitamins. The fruit is rich in vitamin B6 that is vital for maintaining healthy immunity, which in turn protects the infant from a host of illnesses (6) (7).

Improves eye health: Avocado is rich in antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin that accumulate in the eyes and improve vision. These antioxidants also help protect the eyes from degenerative effects of the ultraviolet rays from sunlight (8).

How To Select And Store Avocados?

Selection: Avocados you buy in the market are often unripe. While it is okay for adults, babies will probably not like the slightly bitter taste of the unripe fruit.

The best way to check if an avocado is ripe is to gently press it in the palm of your hand. A ripe avocado will feel firm, but yield a bit to the pressure from the hand (10). An unripe avocado will feel palpably hard, and an overripe one will crack or burst open when pressed.

Choose avocados that have a dark green skin and a rough and bumpy feel.

Observe the pulp once you cut an avocado at home. The pulp of a ripe avocado is light green and gets yellowish-green around the skin of the fruit.

Storage: It is best to consume sliced avocados fresh since the pulp is rich in fat and could be susceptible to bacterial degeneration.

If you intend to store some sliced avocado, then turn it into puree, pour the puree into an ice cube tray, and freeze it (11). Consume it within a couple of days by thawing the fruit before eating.

Fresh fruit should be your first option since even the frozen avocado puree can lead to loss of nutrients (12).

Selecting and storing avocados is easy. And, in the next section, we tell you how to cook avocados for your baby.

How To Process Avocados For Baby Food?

Avocados are best eaten raw. Just like bananas, you remove the peel of the avocado and eat the pulp. Boiling or direct heating can make oils in the avocado pulp taste unappealing (13). However, you can bake and grill an avocado. You can also process the raw pulp for baby food. Here are the different ways to process avocados for babies:

You can grill avocados either on a conventional charcoal grill or in an oven. Cut the avocado into two, remove the seed, and cut the fruit lengthwise into thin slices. Grill the slices for three minutes. If you intend to cook in an oven, then preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). Place the avocado slices on an oven grill and grill for ten minutes.

To Bake, cut the avocados the way you want – either slices or small chunks. Preheat the oven to 425ºF (218ºC). Bake the avocado for 20 minutes.

Scoop out the pulp on a plate and use a fork to mash it. You can feed mashed pulp to the baby without any further processing.

Pureeing the fruit is easy. Transfer the scooped pulp into a blender, add some water, and blend it till you attain a desired consistency.

You can blend avocado with baby formula to add flavor to it.

Now, let’s take a look at a few recipes that use the above techniques of cooking the fruit.

7. Peas and avocado mash

Mashed peas and avocado should surely be a green, delight packed with protein from peas and healthy fats from avocado.

You will need:

1 1/2 cups peas

1 avocado

2 cups of water

How to:

Boil the peas for 25 minutes or pressure cook for up to three steam whistles.

Sieve out the peas and let them cool. Do not discard the peas stock yet.

Add the avocado pulp and the cooked peas in a bowl. Mash them together. If the mixture seems too thick, then add some peas stock to soften it.

8. Avocado and formula smoothie

Image: Shutterstock

If you love avocado smoothie yourself, then you can prepare some for your baby as well.

You will need:

1 medium-sized avocado

2-3 spoon formula

5-6 cups of water

How to:

Slice the avocado into half, remove the seed, and use a spoon to scoop out the soft pulp.

Transfer the pulp to a blender, add water, and formula to it. Do note that you can refer the back label of formula carton for the precise quantity of formula powder needed for a cup (236ml) of formula milk.

Once you have all the ingredients in the blender, blend them. Pour into a cup and serve to the baby right away.

9. Apple and avocado puree

Apples go well with avocado and the two pack a lot of nourishment together for a healthy nutrition of your infant.

You will need:

1 apple

1 avocado

2-3 cups of water

How to:

Chop the apple into smaller pieces and retain its skin since it contains a lot of nutrients.

Transfer the apples to a cooking vessel with water to just submerge the apples. Cook for 25 minutes on medium flame.

Let the apples cool along with the water.

Add the avocado pulp into a blender and transfer the apple pieces with the water.

Blend the avocados and apples finely together.

10. Avocado yogurt

Image: Shutterstock

A baby should not have cow’s milk before the age of 12 months, but it is okay to give yogurt. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) states that processed dairy products such as yogurt can be introduced into a baby’s diet after six months and preferably in combination with a fruit or vegetable (14). It means you can combine avocado and yogurt to make a tasty treat for your little one.

You will need:

1 1/2 cup whole cow’s milk yogurt (preferably homemade)

1 avocado

How to:

Transfer yogurt to a blender and the avocado pulp to it.

Blend till the avocado pulp entirely mixes with the yogurt.

If the mixture seems thick, you can add a little water during the blending process.

Can My Baby Be Allergic To Avocados?

Yes. Infants can be allergic to avocado, and skins hives (medically called urticaria) is the most common symptom of avocado allergy (15). Other symptoms of avocado allergy are diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, swelling of the face, and drowsiness.

If your infant is allergic to banana and melon, then do not feed avocado as infants with allergies to these fruits are 90% likely to be allergic to avocado (16). If your baby has other allergies or allergic conditions such as asthma and eczema, then you can delay the introduction of avocados up to the age of nine months (17). You should also consult a pediatrician before introducing the fruit. In any case, be alert to the signs of avocado allergy in the baby.

You may have some more questions about the avocado fruit, and we address those queries in the section below.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can my baby eat avocado every day?

Yes. Avocados can be a part of your baby’s daily diet. There is no limit to how much avocado he can eat. But, do not overfeed! Just make it a part of the regular diet.

2. Should I select organic avocados for my baby?

Yes, you can, but it is not always necessary. According to experts, avocados are among fruits that are least likely to be contaminated by pesticides and are mostly free of any harmful chemical residue (18). It means the avocado you pick at a supermarket is safe for your baby.

3. Can I use avocado oil for baby food?

Yes. However, feeding it to your baby in the fruit form is a better option. Avocado oil provides a fraction of nutritional benefits that a whole fruit does. Therefore, avocado fruit is healthier for your baby. You can still use avocado oil when shallow-frying vegetable pieces for your baby’s finger food. It is to be noted that the avocado oil is more expensive than other oils and buying the fruit offers better value in terms of money and nutrition for your baby (19).

4. Does avocado cause gas in babies?

Yes, but only in small amounts. Every food produces gas in the gastrointestinal tract. It is only when the gas causes discomfort to an infant that the food becomes a concern. Pediatric experts state that avocado produces normal quantities of gas in the gastrointestinal tract of a baby. It means, it is tolerable and does not cause any problems to the infant (20).

5. Do avocados lead to constipation in infants?

There is no scientific evidence to prove that avocado can cause constipation. In fact, pediatric experts recommend avocado to treat constipation, as the fruit contains moderate level of fiber, which eases bowel movement (21).

Avocados are packed with nutrition, have a creamy consistency, and taste great with several other foods. The fruit is also convenient to process and makes an excellent snack for your infant. Avocados are packed with nutrients and including them in an infant’s diet can immensely benefit the healthy growth of the little one.

How do you give avocados to your baby? Tell us in the comment sections below.

Rohit Garoo

Rohit Garoo took writing as a profession right after finishing his MBA in Marketing. Earlier he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Botany & Zoology from the autonomous St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai. Rohit has also done a Stanford University certification course on breastfeeding. This botanist-zoologist turned writer excels at life sciences, and at MomJunction he writes everything about pediatrics and maternal care. In between writing and being overly curious, he spends time cooking, reading, and playing video games. LinkedIn profile – linkedin.com/in/rohit-garoo-263115aa

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